Apart from the Croatian team winning the game against Turkey at the opening of the European Football Championship at the Parc des Princes in Paris this match will be remembered for one more important detail – for the first time in the history of the Croatian national football team a woman was sitting on the bench among the Croatian footballers.

Iva Olivari the team manager of the Croatian national team started working for the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) in 1992 when the team was in the making after the Croatian War of Independence. At first Olivari worked in the international department of HNS. When Davor Suker, the former Croatian footballer, took over the presidency of HNS in 2012 she made a step up and became the team manager of the Croatian national football team. She was a part of the national team in 2014 in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil but instead of being on the bench she was in stands.

Iva Olivari is a firm favourite among the Croatian football players. She performs logistical functions from organizing trips to solving all kinds of personal problems of the players.

‘’The guys are great, I love them very much and they respect me. With previous football generations I had a brother and sister relationship because we were the same age. But these youngsters refer to me as “Aunt Iva,” she smiled.

Olivari has been in sports from her young days. At the age of 14 she was the women’s tennis champion in Croatia and in the former Balkan country of Yugoslavia. In her sports career she had noticeable international results, for example, on one of the tournaments in Germany she beat Steffi Graf the former German world no. 1 professional tennis player.

''People say that I had a talent but after I experienced a bad wrist injury I stopped playing tennis. If someone had told me that I would end up in football, I would have never believed it,” commented Olivari.

It is said that a woman on board is bad luck but so far this woman has brought nothing but good luck to the Croatian football team. Let's hope that Olivari will continue to be a lucky charm for Croatia in the further stages of the EURO 2016.

Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra will perform with pianist Marija Grazio on Friday in the Rector's Palace. The conductor of the orchestra will be Tomislav Facini and the concert starts at 9 pm.

Marija Grazio is the pianist from Dubrovnik, professor at the Art school of Luka Sorkocevic and excellent chamber musician. In addition to recitals, as a soloist she has performed with various orchestras with conductors like Pavle Despalj, Anton Nanut, Nicholas Milton, Alan Buribayev, Ivo Drazinic, Ivan Repusic, Fran Krasovac, Marin Wolfe, Zlatan Srzic, Mladen Tarbuk and many others, showing interest for all musical periods, from classical to modern works.

She's leading a Musical workshop Sorgo for 15 years now, with the pianist Aljosa Lecic, promoting comprehensive Dubrovnik's musical heritage. On Friday the program will consist of works by B. Bersa, D. Sostakovic and F.B. Mendelssohon.

Youtube channel '2 minute travel' has recently published a two minute travel guide to Dubrovnik. You would be surprised how much it can be said in 2 minutes! Their topics are 'Getting about', 'Food and Drink', 'History and culture', 'Entertaiment' and they have a 'Wildcard' with some extra information as well. Don't miss to recap your Dubrovnik knowledge in this short and sweet video.

Today was the hottest day of the year in Dubrovnik with temperatures touching 30 degrees and as it was also a public holiday it was the perfect day to enjoy the crystal clear Adriatic Sea. Our photographers were out in the Lapad suburb today to catch the atmosphere.

Ander Herrera, Spanish professional footballer, who is currently playing for Manchester United is in Dubrovnik and he's really enjoying his time. He shared a photo showing him and his friends at mouintain Srd, with the most beautiful view in the world: the Old Town of Dubrovnik. He has over 2 million fans on Instagram and in 3 hours has collected over 20 thousand likes on this photo.

In case you didn't know, Ander Herrera currently plays as a midfielder for Manchester United. He began his career at Real Zaragoza before moving to his home-town club Athletic Bilbao in 2011, and then to Manchester United for €36 million in 2014. He has also won tournaments with Spain at Under-20 and Under-21 level and represented the nation at the 2012 Olympics.

It seems that famous footballers just love Dubrovnik this summer and can't keep away. We are not complaining!

Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, also known as the 2Cellos, have just returned from London where they begun recording their fourth studio album which will be devoted to film music.

“It was great! What amazing sound and what a great studio,” commented one half of the 2Cellos Stjepan Hauser after returning from London. The ceiling in the studio is able to rise and fall, we could not believe it. On the set I had the opportunity to play on the Stradivarius cello which is worth millions of Euros and it was an indescribable feeling,” added Hauser.

The album was recorded with one of the world's finest orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, well known for their film music. One of the most famous music studios for film music in the world, Air Studios in London, was used by the 2Cellos with the London Symphony Orchestra.

The building was originally a church and a school but was converted in 1969 into a studio. A number of renowned musicians have recorded at Air Studios including Van Morrison and David Gilmour.

Last week the European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety held a meeting on the implementation of the Waste Framework Directive and the Packaging Directive. The Committee enhanced the problem of non-compliance with waste management legislation in EU countries. All member states had to close existing landfills not complying with the EU Landfill Directive by the 16th of July 2009 unless they approved a "site conditioning plan" including technical measures in order to bring them in line with EU law.

''According to the decision of the EU Court of Justice Slovakia will probably have to pay a lump sum fine of 939,000 Euros and a daily penalty of 6,794 for the country's failure to comply with the EU directives regarding a landfill in north-western Slovakia. If Croatia does not comply with EU Directives soon by implementing a new plan for recycling and waste management the country will probably have the same scenario as Slovakia'', said Davor Skrlec the Croatian representative in the EU Parliament. Croatia is two years overdue with a new plan for recycling and waste management and Skrlec said it was the responsibility of Mihael Zmajlovic the former minister of the Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection.

Skrlec added that two years time was lost in vain as well as the opportunity to use the money from the EU funds for the sector of recycling and waste management. ''Croatia shall be penalized with high sum fines unless the new plan of recycling and waste management has been introduced'', said Skrlec.

''According to the statements of Slaven Dobrovic the current minister of Environmental and Nature Protection the new plan of recycling and waste management in Croatia includes many of the elements of the new EU Circular Economy Package. That plan is also the last chance for Croatia to finally start treating waste as a resource that makes profit and opens new 'green' jobs'', commented Davor Skrlec.

While the football championship Euro2016 is the main event on French streets, on June 18th promo project 'The coast of Europe' started in Paris. In the last two days, in the organization of Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Dubrovnik was presented. Klapa Kase was in charge for musical part of the presentation, while Sandra Milovcevic and Doris Milidragovic, employees of the tourist board dressed in traditional costumes from Konavle are giving the candies and promo materials from Dubrovnik. First day of Dubrovnik presentation, Croatian pavilion was visited by representatives of the city of Paris Sanchez Ruivo and Jean Francois Martins, as well as representatives of the Croatian Ministry of foreign affairs.

Croatia has won Group D at the Euro 2016 after defeating the actual European Champions Spain in a thrilling match in Bordeaux last night. Cheered on by thousands of fans in the “Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux” Croatia came from behind to shock Spain to win 2 – 1 and top Group D with seven points. Alvaro Morata scored for the holders after just seven minutes and it looked like being a tough night for the Croatians, however a goal from Nikola Kalinic just before halftime eased their nerves. Man of the match Ivan Perisic sealed the famous win with a counter attacking goal in the 87 minute.

The whole of Croatia was awash with colour and music last night as the country celebrated topping the group and progressing into the final stages.

Whether the American fashion designer Marc Jacobs is a fan of the EURO 2016 or not, remains to be seen but according to some items of his latest collection it seems that he has been inspired by Croatia’s famous red and white checkerboard design.

The Croatian national football team is world famous for its jersey in red and white cubes apart from the great football masters on the football field like Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, etc. Mercer Slip On Sneakers designed by Marc Jacobs look as if they have been specially made for the Croatian football fans but it could well just be a coincidence. However, coincidence or not the slip on shoe would look quite nice on Croatian fans at the European Football Championship in France whilst supporting their national football team.

On Tuesday the 21st of June Croatia plays its last match in the group against Spain and once again the Croatian footballers will have the opportunity to make their trademark even more famous. Who knows, maybe Marc Jacobs really is a fan of the Croatian national football team and as he was on Time magazine’s “2010 Time 100” list of the 100 most influential people in the world maybe he will make the Croatian team even more famous throughout the world with the red and white checkerboard design on his Mercer slip on sneaker.